Camp knife opinions

josh81

josh81

Joined
Jan 11, 2016
Messages
435
I've been working on this design for awhile. The guy put a deposit down so it's time to make it real.
He lives in a pretty remote area and the knife will be used, alot.From low water drift boat trips, to uses around his property, to setting up camp.
The handle is comfortable in 3 different grips. Choked up using the finger choil, mid handle for most tasks, and slid back towards the pommel for hacking branches.
For steel in thinking 80crv2 in either 3/16 or 1/4" @60 Rc. Probably a slight distal taper and possibly tapered tang to keep the weight forward. Not set on all that though.
Handle will probably be some sort of micarta.
Any opinions, thoughts, or critiques are appreciated. Thank you!
dc572daf29db26f71f95024319544266.jpg

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My only suggestion would be to check out terro tuff for handle material for what I hear it's super grippy even when wet. Besides that it looks like a very capable blade.
 
AntCaps said:
My only suggestion would be to check out terro tuff for handle material for what I hear it's super grippy even when wet. Besides that it looks like a very capable blade.
Click to expand...
I actually have a couple sets of terro tuff scales I forgot about. They might not be big enough but I'll look into that. Thank you!

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I really don't like the whole extra finger choil thing thats become more common. I can't get used to how it looks and I can't bring myself to use it, since I always carry a pocket knife along with a fixed blade in the woods. But if it's what the customer wants, I understand. I'm not right it's just my opinion.

I think 80CRV2 is a great material choice for it and I've made a few camp knives from it. It seems to hold up very well.

When I do a larger camp knife like that, that's thick like .188 or .250, I bring the grind up pretty high to thin the blade a little more. It makes more delicate cutting much easier to do without sacrificing a lot of strength. It also chops more efficiently than a scandi-type grind.

But I think that's a good looking design that will work great.
 
I think that's an outstanding design, I really like it. I, on the other hand, love the extra finger choil, but that's just me. Have you considered jimping on the spine? With the choked up grip because of the extra finger choil, some jimping for that hold may work well.

Great design.

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kuraki said:
I really don't like the whole extra finger choil thing thats become more common. I can't get used to how it looks and I can't bring myself to use it, since I always carry a pocket knife along with a fixed blade in the woods. But if it's what the customer wants, I understand. I'm not right it's just my opinion.

I think 80CRV2 is a great material choice for it and I've made a few camp knives from it. It seems to hold up very well.

When I do a larger camp knife like that, that's thick like .188 or .250, I bring the grind up pretty high to thin the blade a little more. It makes more delicate cutting much easier to do without sacrificing a lot of strength. It also chops more efficiently than a scandi-type grind.

But I think that's a good looking design that will work great.
Click to expand...
I agree with you for the most part. I've never made a knife with one and was reluctant to use it here. After making this template though it does seem to really give you more control of the blade. It's growing on me.
Thanks for the advice on the grind. I mainly just drew the bevel on for aesthetic purposes. Good to know that 80crv2 will hold up though.

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Slauterhause said:
I think that's an outstanding design, I really like it. I, on the other hand, love the extra finger choil, but that's just me. Have you considered jimping on the spine? With the choked up grip because of the extra finger choil, some jimping for that hold may work well.

Great design.

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Click to expand...
Thank you. I had jimping drawn on the original drawing where the thumb will be placed when using the finger choil. I haven't had much success with filing it in the past but may attempt it again on this one.

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Looks good. I'd make the blade a little bit narrower and the grind a bit higher.
 
josh81 said:
I've been working on this design for awhile. The guy put a deposit down so it's time to make it real.
He lives in a pretty remote area and the knife will be used, alot.From low water drift boat trips, to uses around his property, to setting up camp.
The handle is comfortable in 3 different grips. Choked up using the finger choil, mid handle for most tasks, and slid back towards the pommel for hacking branches.
For steel in thinking 80crv2 in either 3/16 or 1/4" @60 Rc. Probably a slight distal taper and possibly tapered tang to keep the weight forward. Not set on all that though.
Handle will probably be some sort of micarta.
Any opinions, thoughts, or critiques are appreciated. Thank you!
dc572daf29db26f71f95024319544266.jpg

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Josh, That's a nice profile and should make a really nice camp knife. My only criticism would be that I think the choil is unnecessary and potentially dangerous. I wouldn't put my finger against a sharp cutout like that. Otherwise I think the blade will be very good looking and useful. Just my opinion. Larry
 
For what it's worth, the one change that I would make to the design that I can see would be to make the finger guard stick out maybe an eighth of an inch less. The reason for that is because it would make it a little easier to use the knife for cutting on a flat surface (like food on a table), but wouldn't make the guard less effective. That is just my take based on my experiences (and frustrations) trying to use knives with finger guards as camp knives.
 
I will give one more vote for the choil. Ever since having a 70s Era old-timer with a large choil when I was a kid I have been a fan. I have used a knife more than most and have never curt myself.

What are the dimensions?
 
skillgannon said:
I will give one more vote for the choil. Ever since having a 70s Era old-timer with a large choil when I was a kid I have been a fan. I have used a knife more than most and have never curt myself.

What are the dimensions?
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8" cutting edge, roughly 6" handle, blade is 2" at the heel, 16" overall

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Your design looks great. As far as the choil, I would make it not as deep as shown. Using a 1" contact wheel, grind it up a 1/4".
Scott
 
Maybe what people are seeing with the choil is that right now the cutting edge is exactly half the knife. I like long handles but having 8" for a handle may not be normal proportioning. It will probably function awsome though.
 
skillgannon said:
Maybe what people are seeing with the choil is that right now the cutting edge is exactly half the knife. I like long handles but having 8" for a handle may not be normal proportioning. It will probably function awsome though.
Click to expand...
Ya I see what you're saying. The handle is really only 6 or 6 1/2" though. Choil and ricasso make up the rest. It's still a tad long but you can slide your hand back and get more leverage on the swing. I'll play around with it some more. Thanks to everybody for the opinions!

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FWIW, here's an example of how I do a choil. This is 13" overall with an 8" blade, 1" choil, 7" cutting edge.
Scott

coffee_zpsvrhouhxi.jpg
 
Gossman Knives said:
FWIW, here's an example of how I do a choil. This is 13" overall with an 8" blade, 1" choil, 7" cutting edge.
Scott

coffee_zpsvrhouhxi.jpg
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Thanks for the visual. I see what you meant by the 1/4" deep choil now. Very nice work by the way.

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Thanks. Even though you loose 1" of cutting edge, you can always make the blade a bit longer for your desired cutting edge.
Scott
 
looks good. i would make the very end of the handle a pinch wider on the bottom. the center of the handle is wider than the end, making it look pregnant :) if the end of the handle is wider than the center, it will be a more secure grip and you will not need to squeeze it as tight, making it more comfortable to use.
 
john april said:
looks good. i would make the very end of the handle a pinch wider on the bottom. the center of the handle is wider than the end, making it look pregnant :) if the end of the handle is wider than the center, it will be a more secure grip and you will not need to squeeze it as tight, making it more comfortable to use.
Click to expand...
That makes sense. Thank you!

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